New Hope Baptist Association - Georgia

According to the best information I can find on the Web, the New Hope Baptist Association was founded in 1884 with churches mostly in Haralson and Paulding Counties in Georgia and the New Hope Primitive Baptist Association was founded about 1840 with churches in Carroll and Haralson counties in Georgia. Does anyone have any information about the history of the NHBA and if there is any connection with the NHPBA?

 

Mr. Vaughn,

Thanks for the information. I have a copy of the latest minutes on the way from the current Moderator but I just got antsy.

Yes, I do remember the term "Streaked-Head" being used. I always thought that meant that their beliefs and doctrines were somewhere between Primitive Baptists and Missionary Baptists. I have also heard them called "hardshell", which is a term many normally have used for Primitive Baptists. I don't use these terms to be derogatory. The people in these Churches are some of the most loving and wonderful people in the world.

My Father was involved with the NHBA in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He was a member of Liberty Baptist Church in Douglasville, Georgia in Douglas County and probably ordained there. His first pastorate was Mountain View Baptist Church near Felton, Georgia in Haralson County. His second pastorate was Westview Baptist Church(sometimes West View) in Tallapoosa, Georgia also in Haralson County. The term "Pastor" was used and not "Elder", which leads me to believe that they were not originally a part of the Primitive Baptists.

Liberty withdrew and became independent probably in the 1960s. Not sure if they are Missionary, but probably not. Mountain View and Westview also withdrew and became Missionary. Believe that Westview was a part of the Georgia Baptist Convention for a time but then withdrew.

I remember that at Mountain View around 1950 in Communion the "Fruit of the Vine" was served in one glass passed by the serving deacons down the bench from participant to participant.

At Westview in the mid 1950s I do remember feetwashing which everyone called "footwashing". I also remember some "shouting" during regular services. Also, at the old Church building there was a mourner's bench in front of the pulpit. At the new building the bench was replaced by some hand-crafted, backless benches with red cushions attached to the top. Believe that caused a stir when the annual associational meeting was held there one year.

As I remember, at these churches (and possibly others we attended when I was a child), during regular worship services there was prayer time when many of the men would kneel and pray aloud at the same time. Some would rock back and forth and pray in a chant similar to some preaching. Preaching was extemporaneous, as some call it today. Most just said that the message was sent by God through the preacher. The sermons were usually delivered in a rapid, chanting style. Not all sermons were "fire and brimstone" but I do remember the phrase "die and go to hell" being used quite a bit. Prepared messages or notes were not normally used.

Hope to send more as I confirm some of my memories from my childhood and some of the assumptions that I have made.

 

Thanks for the additional information. Have developed another source for information--a gentleman who was Clerk for NHBA for many years. Will provide more information as I get it.

 

Bro. Vaughn,

Thanks for the additional information. I too doubt that there were 100 churches in the association at that time.

I recently joined the Georgia Baptist Historical Society and I plan to obtain some materials through them. Also, I plan to visit the Jack Tarver Library at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. They have a Georgia Baptist History Depository in their Special Collections (Baptist & University Archives) section. It does include microfilmed copies of minutes of various associations including NHBA.

More to follow.

 

On page 19 of the 2004 Minutes of the NHBA, the "CONSTITUTION" reads as follows:

Article 1. We believe in only one true and living God, the Creator and Preserver of all things, and that there is a trinity of persons in the Godhead: The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and these are one.
Article 2. We believe and receive the Original King James Version of the Old and New Testament as the revealed Word of God, and that they contain the only safe rule of faith and practice.
Article 3. We believe in the total and universal depravity of the human family.
Article 4. We believe in the election through the everlasting love of God to His people, they being chosen in Christ before the world began.
Article 5. We believe that the sinners are justified in the sight of God, by the righteousness of Christ imputed to them.
Article 6. We believe in the doctrine of effectual calling and the final preservation of saints in grace.
Article 7. We believe that good works are the effect of faith and follow after justification and that they justify us in the sight of men and are evidences of a gracious state.
Article 8. We believe there will be a resurrection from the dead and a general judgment, and that the happiness of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked will be eternal.

It appears to me that the only part of the Five Points of Calvinism that is expressly missing from these articles of faith is Limited Atonement.

Is Limited Atonement assumed because of the wording in Articles 4 and 5?

 

The cover of the "MINUTES OF THE 121st Annual Session OF THE NEW HOPE BAPTIST ASSOCIATION" indicates that the meeting was held with the "SHADY GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH OF CHRIST" and that the 2005 meeting will be at "Unity Baptist Church of Christ". I remember that another church which withdrew from the association about 40-45 years ago was officially named Liberty Baptist Church of Christ. However, the sign in front of the church before and after the separation did not contain the "of Christ" part of the name, nor does the sign at their current location. I doubt that the other two churches mentioned above or any of the churches of the association publicly use the "of Christ" part of the name. I would also venture that 90% of the members of those churches do not even know that "of Christ" is part of the name.
My guess that the reason for not publicly using the full name is to avoid confusion with churches of the "United Church of Christ" denomination.

I can find no evidence that the New Hope Baptist Association or any of its member churches were ever associated with the New Hope Primitive Baptist Association. One source indicated that most, if not all, of the churches had withdrawn from the Tallapoosa Baptist Association, which has only recently disbanded. I believe that Tallapoosa was missionary at that time. My guess is that these churches that formed New Hope disagreed with the missionary efforts, Sunday schools, use of printed literature, and seminary training for preachers and wanted to form their own association. For some reason they did not want to go with the Primitive Baptists, possibly because the Primitive Baptists did not use musical instruments or have choirs. I have yet to see any other difference between the beliefs of the churches of New Hope and the beliefs of the Primitive Baptists.

I believe that the derogatory term "streaked head" means that the members of these churches are part Primitive. That is, they have a "streak" of Primitive within them.

I have also heard them referred to as "hardshell", a derogatory term normally reserved for true Primitive Baptists.

The churches of the New Hope Baptist Association have traditionally been "shouting" Baptists. Though some members shout, they do not "speak in tongues", do "holy dances", or engage in any other similar practices that might be interpreted as "Pentecostal". Not sure if "shouting" is acceptable in Primitive Baptist churches.

Hope to find out more soon.

 

My source, who is a member of a New Hope church, was not able to shed any light on the meaning of the term "Streaked Head".

This same source indicated to me that the difference between the Primitive Baptists and New Hope is that the "Primitive Baptists believe in a predestinated plan. We believe that man is a free moral agent and free to choose." He referred to John 3:16. I asked him, "When your preachers preach they are preaching to bring people to Christ?" He responded, "Yes." In the same conversation, the good brother stated that he does believe in the Perseverence of the Saints in Grace. He also stated that he believes that God knows everything, even if we will accept Jesus, but that we still are free to choose. This supports Bro. Vaughn's statement in his post of 5/13/05, "It's not unusual for "traditional" associations to keep old articles of faith while their doctrinal stance has actually modified over the years."

It appears that they believe in only two points of the five points of Calvinism: Total Depravity and Perseverance (preservation) of the Saints. Evidently they do not believe in the Unconditional Election, or Limited Atonement, or Irresistible Grace (effectual call).

However, they are not "missionary" in that they do not believe in supporting mission organizations. They only support local efforts. He said, in effect, that God can raise up a person in a foreign country to handle the efforts there.

Got to get to the Tarver Library.

 

Bro. Robertsson,

That I just don't know. Apparently there are some groups of Baptists who believe that God takes care of all of those matters and does not need man's help.

Hopefully I can attend some of these churches in the near future and get a better feel for their actual practices. Maybe on a footwashing day. That would be a treat. Haven't been to a footwashing since I was a child.

 

Bro. Vaughn,

The term "streaked head" may even be confined to the areas around New Hope churches and to those people who have been directly involved with diehard New Hope people.